Myelolipoma: An unusual surgical lesion of the adrenal gland

Abstract

The clinical and pathologic features of three cases of surgically removed myelolipoma of the adrenal gland are presented. As with 18 previously reported cases, the lesions were found in obese, middle-aged persons; two of three had chronic, systemic disease (vasculitis and lymphoma, sustained hypertension). The only symptom possibly attributable to the neoplasm was nonspecific abdominal pain, and each lesion was identified by inferior renal displacement on intravenous urography. As computed tomography becomes widely available, the authors expect more myelolipomas to be detected that require surgical exploration, since there are no satisfactory, specific radiographic criteria to differentiate adrenal myelolipoma from adrenocortical carcinoma.

Cutaneous myelolipoma in a peach‐faced lovebird(Agapornis roseicollis)

“…Myelolipoma is a unusual tumour of wild and domestic animals (Ikeda & Downey, 1972;Zimmer & Stair, 1983;Narama et al, 1985) and man (Noble et al, 1982), but is extremely rare in birds. There have been two reports of myelolipoma in five exotic birds (Andreasen et al, 1995;Latimer & Rakich, 1995).…”

“…Myelolipomas have been reported in the spleen, adrenal gland and/or liver of wild cats, small monkeys, dogs and man (Ikeda & Downey, 1972;Noble et al, 1982;Zimmer & Stair, 1983;Narama et al, 1985). Some authors considered that myelolipomas are not true tumours, but transformation of mesenchymal cells caused by chronic anaemia (Selye & Stone, 1950;Bingham et al, 1976), because the common sites of this tumour (the spleen, liver and adrenal) are potent haematopoietic organs, especially in foetal life (Narama et al, 1985).…”

Adrenal Myelolipoma

“…Men and women are equally affected with tumors most often occurring in the fifth or sixth decade of life [6]. Although tumors can range in size from microscopic to 30 cm,most tumors are less than 5 cm in diameter [7]. If these tumors undergo hemorrhage or necrosis or compress surrounding structures, symptoms may occur.…”

Inzidentalome der Nebenniere

“…In nur 0,08-0,2% der Autopsiefälle wer den diese gutartigen Tumoren angetrof fen [27]. Sie erscheinen in der Bildgebung mit oft rein fetthaltigem Bild, was patho gnomonisch ist.…”